Department for Education

Teachers: Training

Baroness Donaghy: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which initial teacher training providers were allocated places for three years from 2017–18; and how many places were allocated to each provider (1) apportioned by primary and secondary phases, and (2) broken down by individual secondary subject.

Lord Nash: We will be publishing the full list of providers eligible for three-year allocations, and the allocations by subject and route in due course. This information will comprise data on both primary and secondary phase, inclusive of all provider-led and school direct trainee places.

Adult Education

Baroness Shephard of Northwold: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to develop an adult education strategy.

Lord Nash: In the 2016 Budget, the Government announced that it would conduct a review into the gaps in support for lifetime learning, including for flexible and part-time study. The review is on-going and the Government will announce its next steps shortly. Additionally, the Government is also devolving the Adult Education Budget to Mayoral Combined Authorities and London, as local areas should be well placed to develop a responsive lower-level skills offer that meets the needs of individuals and the local labour market

Church Schools

Lord Murphy of Torfaen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of Church schools to community cohesion.

Lord Nash: Church schools make a positive contribution to our society and education system and are amongst the highest performing nationally We want more good schools and to enable quality providers to establish them. Our consultation, Schools that Work for Everyone, is aimed at creating more good schools and improving community cohesion so that more young people have the chance to go as far as their talents will take them.

Department of Health

Dementia: Home Care Services

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all homecare workers receive training relating specifically to dementia.

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the level of dementia training provided to homecare workers delivering care to people with dementia.

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people delivering homecare are at Tier 2 within the Care Certificate, equivalent to their NHS counterparts.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Challenge on Dementia 2020, published in February 2015, made clear that, by 2020, we expect social care providers to provide appropriate training on dementia to all relevant staff. A copy of the Challenge on Dementia 2020 is attached. The Department estimates that more than 100,000 social care workers have already received dementia awareness training. Newly appointed health care assistants and social care support workers, including those providing care and support to people with dementia and their carers, should undergo training as part of the national implementation of the Care Certificate. Standard 9 of the Care Certificate concerns awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disabilities. In meeting the standard, each worker must show that he or she understands the needs and experiences of people with mental health conditions, dementia or learning disabilities, the importance of promoting their health and wellbeing, the adjustments which may be necessary in delivering their care, and the importance of early detection. They must also prove that they understand the legal context, including mental capacity considerations. This standard is based in tier 1 of the Dementia Core Skills Education and Training Framework, which focuses on awareness. This tier of knowledge is applicable across the spectrum of health and adult social care services and so is at an appropriate level to inform the Care Certificate’s content.



Challenge on Dementia 2020
(PDF Document, 977.56 KB)

Hospital Beds

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual cost to the NHS of bed-blocking delays in discharging elderly patients from hospitals because of the lack of adequate social care provision; and what strategy they have to ensure that adequate social care is provided, particularly for the elderly.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department has made no formal estimate of the costs of delayed discharge to the National Health Service. However, the Department and NHS Improvement are working together to implement Lord Carter’s recommendations on hospital productivity. The report, Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations is attached. As part of this, the two organisations are working with providers to develop a richer dataset around all aspects of the patient pathway, including discharge. At the same time, the Department continues to work closely with the NHS and local government to help local areas improve transfers out of hospital, share best practice, and reduce unnecessary delays. The Care Act 2014, placed duties on local authorities to facilitate and encourage an effective market of quality providers in their area. The Department has worked with local government and the provider sector to develop guidance to help local authorities with these market shaping duties, a copy of guidance, Adult social care market shaping is attached. The Department also supports the Local Government Association with a programme of sector-led improvement.



Operational productivity 
(PDF Document, 5.33 MB)




Adult social care market shaping
(PDF Document, 777.87 KB)

Nurses: Training

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have reassessed their plans to replace bursaries with loans for all nursing students in the light of the potential impact of the decision to withdraw from the UK on the recruitment and retention within the NHS of qualified nurses from other EU member states.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government has not reassessed plans to replace bursaries with loans to take into account the decision to withdraw from the European Union (EU).The Department of Health is working with the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure that the needs of health and social care providers and those in need of health and social care services are taken into account as we exit from the EU.In October 2016, the Department for Education confirmed that EU students will remain eligible to apply for the standard student loan package and this will not change during their course if the Government triggers Brexit during the next few years.

NHS: Consultants

Lord Lisvane: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 16 November (HL2985), if the information about the number of NHS consultant appointments cancelled is not held in the format requested, in what format that information is held.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS Digital publishes information on the number of cancelled outpatient appointments as part of Outpatient Hospital Episode Statistics which are published annually. Not all appointments are consultant-led and it is not possible to separately identify the number of cancelled consultant-led appointments. In 2015-16, 7.6 million outpatient appointments were cancelled by hospitals, representing 6.8% of all appointments.

Refugees: Doctors

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support refugees arriving in the UK, who are medical students or trainees, to complete their training.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Health Education England is supporting a range of initiatives to help refugees who are qualified or student health professionals to access support to enable them to complete their training and register, so that they can practice in the United Kingdom. These include language support, work placements and courses to refresh skills and knowledge for those returning to practice.

Doctors: Refugees

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have decided not to proceed with the proposed refugee medical fellowships for refugee doctors which were planned for London, Manchester and Oxford.

Lord Prior of Brampton: There are no agreed plans for medical refugee fellowships. However, NHS England has been discussing opportunities, including the idea of fellowships, to provide additional support for refugees who wish to practice as a doctor in the National Health Service in England, to see whether such support would help to increase the number of doctors working in general practice by 2020-21. A decision has yet to be taken on this issue.

Nurses: Training

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) apprenticeship nurses, and (2) post-graduate qualified nurses, are expected to complete training before the end of this Parliament.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The employer-led Nursing Degree Apprentice Trailblazer Group estimate there will be 1,000 Nursing Degree Apprentices in training every year. Apprentices are employed and actual numbers will depend on how many employers want to train through the apprenticeship route. The Nursing Degree Apprenticeship will typically take four years to complete. Information on the number of post-graduate qualified nurses expected to complete training before the end of this Parliament is not yet held.

Cataracts: Surgery

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce new innovative technologies into the NHS and to assess laser technologies and the impact which they can have on cataract waiting times, efficiency, and capacity management as part of a national cataract strategy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department does not stipulate what surgical techniques should be used. In the absence of positive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidance on a particular treatment, it is for National Health Service commissioners to make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances. The commissioning of cataract surgery is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups, and decisions on the use of particular techniques are made locally on the basis of evidence to inform commissioning decisions. The National Institute for Health Research is funding a clinical trial comparing standard cataract surgery with femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery. The report is expected to be published in 2018. In light of concerns about lengthy waits for treatment and unacceptable variations in care, the Secretary of State has asked NICE to bring forward its guidance on cataracts from 2018 to 2017. This will provide NHS commissioners with evidence based guidance from NICE and help to ensure patients have access to the most effective treatment as early as possible.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Hedgehogs

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to raise awareness of the rapid decline in the UK hedgehog population and the reasons for this decline.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government is concerned about the decline of the hedgehog. The reasons for their decline are complex and include agricultural practices (including loss of hedgerows), use of pesticides, reducing availability of food, roads, a lack of available shelter in urban areas, restriction of movement and badgers that predate on hedgehogs and compete for their food. We support efforts to make our gardens more hedgehog friendly through the creation of hedgehog havens and campaigns encouraging local communities to work together to look out for hedgehogs and make gardens as welcoming as possible. Working with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species, earlier this year the Government published advice for homeowners in the form of five simple steps to make gardens more hedgehog friendly, from letting grassy areas grow wild to providing food and shelter. More recently, information has been available through social media on how people can help hedgehogs during autumn.

Pets: Animal Breeding

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken any studies of the impact on pet animal welfare of brachycephaly; and if not, whether they intend to do so.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: While the Government has not carried out any such studies, as part of our review of the Animal Establishments Licensing Schemes, we are looking into the wider issue of genetic defects in dog breeding and whether steps can be taken to reduce the number of dogs being born with such defects.

Pets: Animal Breeding

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any representations about the breeding of brachycephalic pet animals.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Two respondees to our recent consultation on Animal Establishments Licensing Schemes referred specifically to brachycephaly in dogs. In the past, we have also received other representations from individuals about this condition in dogs.

European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to sign the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals; and if not, why not.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Effective legislation is already in place to protect pet animals. The Government also intends to make further improvements to the Animal Establishments Licensing Schemes which are operated by local authorities in the near future. The Government is therefore not currently planning to sign the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals.

Fisheries

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to replace funding for the fishing sector derived from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund once the UK has left the EU.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Future support for the fishing industry has still to be determined. Decisions will be made following discussions between stakeholders, Treasury and those Government Departments with responsibility for delivering European Structural Fund programmes.